Sharp County record., 1887-07-21
REVERSING THINGS.
The Secretary of the Interior Sets ASIDE
a Uniform Practice of the Department
If Those Interested Don't Like 1t They
Can Try the Supreme Court.

The Secretary OF the Interior Sets ASiuo
a Uniform Practice of the Department
If Those Interested Don't Like 1t They
Can Try the Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, June 80 - Secretary
Lamar yesterday, in an exceedingly long
and exhaustive decision, declined to
certify to the Treasury Department for
pavment the account of the State OF Kan
sas for five per cent. Of the proceeds oil
the sale Of certain Indian lands The
amount involved is sl13,790. In arriving
at this conclusion, the secretary reviews
the legislation on the subject, from the
time Alabama was admitted into the
Union in 1Sl9 to the present time. After
citing numerous decisions by Commis-
sioners OF the General Land Office and
Secretaries of the Interior in support OF
the position taken by Kansas IN support
of her claim, and after stating that similar
claims have been allowed Kansas by the
Interior Department derived from the
same source, he says he must decline tc
allow it, as, in his Judgment, the act adj
mitting Kansas as a State does not war
rant the construction put upon IT, In
support of his position, Secretary Lamar
cites two decisions of the Supreme Court,
one in regard to the State OF Illinois and
the other affecting the State OF Iowa
Both cases, he claims, were analogous 10
the present one, and sustain him fully.
In the opinion of the court it said: wv hen
each of these acts speaks OF lands 'Sold
by Congress- five per cent OF the pro
ceeds, of which shall be served, and be
disbursed' or appropriated for the
benefit of the State in which the
land lies, it evidently has in view sales
in the ordinary sense, from which the
United States receives proceeds in the
shape of money payable into the treasury,
out of which the five per cent. may be re-
served and paid to the State; and does
not intend to include lands promised and
granted by the United States as reward
for military service for which nothing Is
received into the treasury The question
depends upon the terms in which the
compact between the United States and
each State is represented, and not upon
any supposed equity, extending those
terms to cases not fairly embraced within
their meaning"
Secretary Lamar concludes as follows:
"In arriving at the conclusion before
stated, l am relieved to know that, if the
agents of the State Of Kansas are not
satisfied Of its correctness, they can fol-
low the example of the agents OF the
States of Iowa and Illinois in the ten per
cent cases and apply for a mandamus.
Bv this means the questions involved
will, by an almost summary method, be
brought before the Supreme Court Of the
United States, the highest tribunal in the
land, and to whose decree all will bow
with cheerful acquiesence. But until
such authoritative construction Of the
law in their favor, must decline to ap.
prove of this claim as advised"
This action of Secretary Lamar re-
verses the uniform practice OF the lnte-
rior Department prevalent since its for
nation. The decision is far reaching in
its character, and will affect nearly all
the other Western States.